Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny
by ArchSaugim
Summary: YHP This year, more than just the Millennium items are at stake. With their decks and spirits tainted, can the heroes beat the Darkness, again?
1. Prologue: Recollections and the Letter

Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny

Prologue: Recollections and _The Letter_

_-_

_Yugi had 500 life points, his Black Magician, and a covered trap. His opponent had God of Sun, Dragon Ra at ten thousand attack and defense points, a Magician Breaker trap, and 1 life point. Things were not in the young boy's favor._

"_Marik, you may think you have me beat, but one turn can turn the duel in my favor" Yugi's alter ego and resident spirit, Yami no Yugi smirked, drawing a card to begin their turn._

_This tournament had been their best by far, not a single loss, but the finals were another story. Yugi had easily beaten Joey in the first round, Marik took out Seto Kaiba in their first round match, Harry Potter_ _had easily disposed of Mai Valentine, and Espa Roba had defeated Ron Weasley._

_Yugi's second round was the hardest of the tournament, his opponent had been playing for less than a year, but had built up one of the best decks Yugi or his dark side had ever been faced with.. Harry Potter brought him down to a mere two-hundred-and-seventy-five life points before Yami no Yugi had figured out a flaw in Harry's nearly perfect deck._

_Now, in the finals, Yugi was up against Marik, and had been on the defensive since his first turn. That was going to change with the card he just drew._

"_Marik! I summon Kuriboh to the field!" Yami no Yugi cried, a look of sinister triumph on his face._

"_Watch, as my covered Call of the Haunted returns my Black Magician Girl to the field, giving me a total of three monsters" Yami no Yugi had been waiting for a hand like this since the beginning of the duel._

"_Spell activation, Repetitive Summon!" the Pharaoh bellowed, sliding his newest addition to his deck into the spell/trap slot in the center of his duel disk._

"_Now, using my spell card, I sacrifice all three of my field monsters, half of my life points, and one card from my hand, to summon Saint Dragon Osiris!"_

_Marik smirked as the red God card appeared in holographic form from the sky, at a pathetic one thousand attack and defense points._

_Yami no Yugi smirked, and pulled the last card from his dueling hand, a dark smile on his face._

"_Now, to play a special spell card I may use only once per duel... Archaic Rejuvenation!" Yami no Yugi emphasized, his spell causing his deck holder to glow with a white aura._

_Six cards were partially ejected, allowing him to easily pull them free._ _Marik still stood unconcerned, Dragon Ra was at ten thousand attack points, and Osiris was still at six thousand._

"_Now, for the card that will turn the duel in my favor, Megamorph!" Yami no Yugi triumphantly smirked, watching his God card's attack points double, increasing to 10000._

"_I finish my combination with Pot of Greed!" Yami no Yugi sneered, pulling two cards from his deck._

"_Osiris, Thunder Force!" Yami no Yugi bellowed, his fist splayed_.

_They had just won Battle City, again. Now, all three God cards were with the Pharaoh again, soon to be returned to their respectful owners._

Yugi woke from his recurring dream, a splayed smile on his face. On the floor next to his bed, his best friend slept soundly on the floor, undisturbed by the shorter boy's awakening.

Harry Potter may have come in third in Battle City, but for his first tournament, he was so excited that he nearly wet his pants.

And he had reason to be excited, he had just ranked in the most prestigious tournament of the year, the annual income from a third rank in the BC tournament was more than Yugi's grandfather made in a year.

On the other hand, Harry had little be happy about, his parents were dead, he had been forced to live with repulsive relatives for ten years of his life, and he was completely isolated from the world in which he belonged. The wizarding world.

Last year, Harry, Yugi, and a few others discovered that they were to be enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one of the most prestigious magic schools in the world.

When Yugi and Harry got up that morning, they sat around and watched a rerun of _Tennis no Ojisama_ before going down to make breakfast.

As they were eating their cereal, a loud rapping at the door caused Harry to nearly choke on a recent chug of orange juice.

A few minutes later, there was a slight commotion, and an owl flew into the kitchen, two rolls of parchment attached to its legs.

After getting it away from his milk, Harry managed to detach the parchment, at which point the miniature bird flew away.

Unrolling the one addressed to him, he recognized the back to school letter from Hogwarts, and read the supply list aloud:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_

By Miranda Goshawk

_Break with a Banshee_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Gadding with Ghouls_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Holidays with Hags_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Travels with Trolls_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Voyages with Vampires_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Wanderings with Werewolves_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

_Year with the Yeti_

By Gilderoy Lockhart

"Wow, this Lockhart guy must be really good. He's written all of the books except our _Standard Book of Spells_." Harry noted, with a slight snigger at the name.

'That, _or_ he's a complete maniac bent on world domination.' Yami no Yugi chimed, a slight hint of humor in his voice.

'Mou hitori no Boku, do we have to suspect everyone? I mean, we don't even _know_ what this guy _looks_ like!' Yugi replied, annoyance in his voice. Ever since their encounter with Voldemort in the hidden chamber containing the Sorcerer's stone, Yami no Yugi had been overly protective of his light half.

"Yeah Pharaoh, not _everybody_ wants to kill _you_. Take me for example, I want to kill _professor Snape_." Harry chimed in, unknowingly having eavesdropped on their conversation, thanks to the power of his Millennium Ankh.

"Harry!" Yugi glared, looking down at the golden ankh hanging from around the English boy's neck.

"Huh?" the English boy wondered dumbfounded, then looked down at the ankh around his neck too. "Oh."

Harry had received the Millennium ankh last year at Hogwarts, among other things.

The second the Millennium item entered his life, things had never been the same. The resident spirit of the Millennium ankh, Shadii, was the ancestor of the present Shadi, the leader of the cult sworn to protect the Millennium items, and their secrets, using any means necessary.

Occasionally, Harry would unknowingly tap into other peoples' minds and souls without realizing it. This had thrown him into more than one awkward situation.

At the thought of his other spirit, Harry unconsciously gripped the Ankh tightly, a faint golden aura pulsating around the Egyptian item.

Slowly, the faint but solid form of Shadii appeared behind him, his white, sand-stained Egyptian robes settling around his feet.

"Pharaoh, another year is to begin soon. And, I fear this year will be similar to our first year at Hogwarts..." Shadii murmured, the ankh around his neck shining faintly.

"Hm?" Harry replied, looking over his shoulder at his guardian spirit. "We are _all_ in more danger this year, including those loosely tied to our destiny."

"Don't be so down Shadii, we've already beat Voldemort once, he should be even easier the second time around!" Yugi chimed, popping open the trunk at the foot of his bed.

Reaching in delicately, Yugi pulled out a long and slender wand, ten inches of cedar with a core of phoenix tail feather.

"It's only been a summer since we left, but it feels like we've been cut off entirely..." Yugi sighed, looking over to a moving picture of their friends from the magical school.

Hermione and Seto were in Egypt with Marik, Isis, and Hermione's parents, Ron was with his parents, Harry was staying with Yugi for the summer thanks to the Battle City tournament, and Ryou was just across town on his own.

"Voldemort is not our only worry. I am still concerned about Marik, his ability to control the Millennium items in his possession worries me, I am afraid the combined powers within them may be too much for his spirit to handle. Before we separated for the summer, I sensed an imbalance in his chakra. Two positive influences, and two negative influences, one that I could barely sense, but that was present all the same."

Yugi nodded solemnly once and his eyes glazed over, and Yami no Yugi appeared transparently behind his lighter half.

"I trust Marik will learn to control himself, and we will _all_ be there to help him if he needs it." Yami no Yugi said sternly, a responding flash from the Millennium puzzle following his words.

"Yes pharaoh, all will go well in the end... Just not in the way you might think..." a robed figure outside the Kame game shop smirked, a faint symbol pulsating on the back of his hand... A cross between the familiar Orichalcos and black serpent.

Voldemort had found an ally just in time for the new school year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

_-_

Review. Constructive criticism is highly valued and appreciated...


	2. Chapter One: Loss of a Soul

Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny

Chapter One: Loss of a Soul

-

As soon as they received their school letters, Harry and Yugi began packing for their return to Hogwarts. Overall, the packing went smoothly, and there was only one minor incident that involved Yugi nearly lighting Harry's dueling deck on fire when he knocked over a lamp on top of it.

Two days later they were on an airplane with Ryou, traveling to the famous Diagon Alley to restock their supplies for the upcoming school year. Yugi was engrossed in one of the pre-selected in-flight movies, while Ryou and Harry dueled over who got the window seat.

A few hours later, as they got off the plane, Yugi tripped and fell into the person in front of them, who was also getting off a nearby plane.

"Kaiba!" Ryou exclaimed, helping the shorter boy back to his feet.

"Tomb robber, pharaoh." Seto Kaiba, CEO of KaibaCorp smirked, his usual hint of mockery present in his voice.

"Seto! Don't be so rude!" Hermione called from behind him, shoving around him to greet Harry.

"Yeah Seto" Yami no Bakura snickered, mocking Hermione and fluttering his eyebrows at the older boy.

Gesturing to his duel disk, Seto visually challenged the Egyptian spirit to mock her again.

"Challenge accepted." Bakura sneered, activating his own duel disk.

As Yugi tried to stop them, the holographic projectors were ejected from both duel disks, activating the life point counters and deck shuffling system.

Seto Kaiba: 4000 / Yami no Bakura: 4000

"Let's make this duel a little bit more interesting..." Yami no Bakura smirked maliciously, the Millennium ring glowing brightly around his neck.

Drawing his six cards, Seto pulled one from his collected hand, summoning his first monster card to the field.

"I summon the mighty Vorse Raider (1900), in attack position!" Seto announced, his warrior appearing before him.

"After placing one card face down, I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck."

Yami no Bakura smirked and waved him on, imitating a yawn of boredom.

Seto looked at his cards and nearly dropped his hand in shock.

"Is this some kind of joke _thief_?"

Staring dumbfounded, this was not the reaction everyone had seen coming.

Flashing a card towards the spirit, he repeated himself. "Is this some kind of JOKE?"

Yami no Bakura never felt fear, he had no reason to, he was dead. The card Seto Kaiba showed him made chills crawl down his spine.

The Seal of the Orichalcos.

As Yugi saw the card, he froze in place. Where did Seto get _that_ card? He thought he had defeated it for the last time in his duel with Dartz.

"I don't know where you got that card Kaiba, but blaming me for your troubles won't always work!" Yami no Bakura spat, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm sick of your attitude thief, I play the field spell, SEAL OF THE ORICHALCOS!" Seto bellowed, tossing the spell into his duel disk.

As Yugi and Marik cried out in alarm, the green aura of the Orichalcos appeared around the billionaire, its mark appearing on his forehead.

The Orichalcos seal encased the two duelists and increased Seto's Vorse Raider to 2400 attack points.

A darkness enveloped the CEO and his second half was sealed within his soul room, incapable of restoring his reincarnation to his normal self.

"Heh, do you feel the power I have unleashed? Bask in its glory!" Seto cried, a shadowy gleam in his eye.

"My turn" Yami no Bakura growled, pulling a card from his deck.

"I start by summoning Death Calibre Knight (1900), in offensive position!" Yami no Bakura smirked, pulling a second card from his hand of cards.

"To remove the only obstacle in my way, I play Shiryoo no Fuuinken on your Vorse Raider!" the spirit mocked, disabling the Vorse Raider's ability to defend Seto's life points.

"Attack Death Calibre Knight, lower Seto's life total!" Yami no Bakura smirked, watching his monster charge towards Seto.

Seto braced for the attack, but was still thrown against the Orichalcos barrier, and air replaced the space previously inhabited by his left leg.

"What!" Seto cried as he fell to the ground, his weight unstable on just his right leg.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? We're playing a shadow game! If the Orichalcos wasn't blinding your senses, you would have noticed we're not in the airport anymore." Yami no Bakura chided mockingly, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Along with your life points, you lose pieces of your soul as well, until there's nothing left." He added, pulling two cards from his hand.

"I set two cards on the field and end my turn."

Yami no Bakura: 4000 / Seto Kaiba: 2100

Kaiba violently pulled a card from his deck, nearly ripping it in half in the process.

"I summon X-Head Cannon (1800) to the field in attack position, and combine it with my Futuristic Attraction Spell, special summoning Y-Dragon Head (1500) and Z-Metal Tank (1500) in offensive position!" Seto smirked, his monsters being strengthened by the Orichalcos.

X-Head Cannon (2300) Y-Dragon head (2000) Z-Metal Tank (2000)

"Now, I remove them all from play, to special summon XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800), offensive position!" Kaiba sneered as his creature blazed into reality before his eyes.

"Orichalcos, strengthen my beast!" he added, watching his monster's attack points increase to 3300.

"Attack, destroy the thief's monster!" Kaiba laughed, blinded by the darkness inside him.

"You really should pay more attention. Reveal covered trap, Holy Barrier Mirror Force!" Yami no Bakura laughed, his trap destroying Seto's only useful monster.

"I set one card and end my turn." Seto growled, throwing a card into his duel disk.

Yami no Bakura drew his card and laughed. "Orichalcos's power boost doesn't help you if you have no monsters on the field!"

"I play the spell card Spirit Call!" he snickered, prepared to explain its effect.

Seto already knew its ability, and began searching his deck for a monster.

Yami no Bakura searched his deck, and pulled out a random monster, his plan didn't depend on what _he_ pulled.

"Now for the fun part. I play the spell Spirit Theft!" the Egyptian spirit snickered, walking across the Orichalcos seal to his opponent.

"I get to view your hand, _and_ choose a monster to add to mine." he smiled manically, hoping desperately that the Orichalcos was still in control of Kaiba.

A look of total horror crept over Seto's face as he realized his mistake.

"Give me Giant God Soldier Obelisk." Bakura demanded.

Seto reluctantly handed the spirit his trump card, a brief second of sanity flashing through the control of the Orichalcos.

As Yami no Bakura walked back to his side of the dueling field, a faint look of satisfaction was displayed on his face.

'It's only half over, don't get cocky.' he thought to himself, pulling a card from his hand.

"I activate yet another spell card, Restoration of Chaos!" Yami no Bakura chained, targeting Seto's XYZ Dragon Cannon in the graveyard.

X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank reappeared on Seto's field, their attack and defense points reduced by half.

"Now for my last card, Cross Sacrifice!"

Yami no Bakura sacrificed all three of his opponent's monsters, and watched as Giant God Soldier Obelisk began to emanate a blue aura.

"I summon Giant God Soldier Obelisk (4000), sign of attack!" he bellowed, a maniacal smile on his face.

"Ugh!" Seto cried, stepping back in horror as his own God card appeared opposite him, towering over him.

"It goes against my policy, but I'm offering you one last chance to dispel the Orichalcos!" Yami no Bakura grimaced, his face deadly serious.

Yugi, Marik, Hermione, and Harry watched on as Seto was reclaimed by the Orichalcos, and defiantly shook his head no.

"Attack, Giant God Soldier Obelisk, God Hand Crusher!" Yami no Bakura said half-heartedly, the God rearing its fist back to strike the deadly blow.

"Stop!" Hermione cried, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Stop this madness Seto! Stop it all!" she choked through tears, "Please, just get rid of the seal! Is it really worth your soul?" Hermione's eyes poured tears as she pounded against the Orichalcos barrier.

"Hermione... I made a mistake; I have to pay for my actions... I'm sorry..." Seto whispered, just as Obelisk brought down the fury of his assault, bringing his life points down to 0.

Yami no Bakura: 4000 / Seto Kaiba: 0000

The Orichalcos flared to life as it shrunk to surround only Seto. The green seal emanated its raw power and activated its dark ability. The power to seal souls.

The Millennium rod began to shine brightly in response to the intrusion, and Yami no Seto threw all of his power against the bindings placed around him by the magic of the Orichalcos.

Slowly, the seal around him cracked and shattered, releasing him from his soul room. But, Seto Kaiba was waiting outside for him, to shove him back inside and forcefully lock the door.

'You don't know what you're doing! Let the seal take me, I've already died once!' Yami no Seto exclaimed, furiously pounding on his soul door.

'No. I've learned I have to accept the consequences of my mistakes. I can't allow you to take my place.' Seto replied, determination in his voice.

Seto pulled the Millennium rod from his belt, and dropped it to the ground at his feet.

Seto's body collapsed to the ground as his soul was sealed was sealed into a blank card, which fell to a rest at the head of the Millennium rod.

"No..." Hermione mumbled, tears bursting from her eyes again as she fell backwards into Harry.

"This is going to be hard to explain. That idiot should have never played that card in the first place."

"The better question" Yami no Yugi began as he switched places with little Yugi, "Is how he got that card in his deck in the first place."

Marik walked over to Seto's body and placed the Millennium rod in the soulless hand, releasing the sealed spirit of the priest inside.

"That son-of-a-bitch." Yami no Seto cursed, bending down to pick up the soul card of his light half.

"Hogwarts." Harry said out-of-the-blue, helping Hermione back to her feet.

"What?"

"Hogwarts, if anybody knows how to reverse this, its Dumbledore." Harry replied, looking straight into Marik's eyes.

"We need to get to Dumbledore."

"Dartz. If he's still alive, he should be able to unseal Seto. There's no need to involve Dumbledore until we absolutely have to." Yami no Yugi replied, placing his right hand over the Millennium puzzle.

"Yami no Bakura, take us back to the airport, it will be too suspicious if a group as large as us just disappears for too long."

"Fine, but you better keep the brat under control." the dark spirit replied, activating the power of his Millennium ring.

Their surroundings shimmered for a split second before returning to that of the airport they had previously departed.

"Ryou Bakura, you are under arrest by the order of the Ministry of Magic for using dark magic in the presence of muggles. You have the right to-" a person in front of them began, magically binding Yami no Bakura's wrists and ankles.

"It was me! I'm sorry, I grabbed Harry's wand by accident when I was reaching for a pen. It was an accident, and nobody was looking when it happened." Hermione rushed, hoping her already distraught look would help strengthen her case.

"Ma'am... I don't think you realize the serious nature of the crime you just admitted to." the man replied, at a loss for words at this new development.

"Sorry!" Harry sighed as he focused his mind on the Millennium ankh he knew to be hanging around his neck, however invisible it may have been.

Using the power of the ankh, he raised the base to the official's forehead, letting his darker half take over and finish the task of replacing his memories.

A few minutes later, they were crowded on a street corner outside London's Gatwick airport, waiting for the ministry-issued travel arrangements to meet them.

'If only we could remember _all_ of what happened in Atlantis, we might have been able to save Seto's soul..' Yugi thought, sadness filling his voice.

'We cannot afford to deal in the events of the past, this year will be even more dangerous than last year if the Orichalcos has resurfaced. We can only pray that Voldemort isn't behind this, or we may need to call in outside help." Yami no Yugi returned, restoring his light to his own body and shutting himself off in his soul room.

"Indeed Great Pharaoh, you should be worried about your future, the Almighty Orichalcos has already tainted the purity of your ranks." a dark voice drawled in the faint light of a dying fire, only to have another voice reply.

"The girl iss next..." Voldemort hissed, his bodiless form already handing instructions to Lucius Malfoy on his plan for the year...

-

Feel free to leave me constructive criticism, and helpful reviews. I got character deck information from www. Janime . net and it's pretty rough (but excellent) translations, so please help if you have edits on cards or anything else.


	3. Chapter Two: Assault

Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny

Chapter Two: Assault

-

The group had been waiting outside for only a minute or two when it began to rain. Large drops pelted them from the sky, reflecting the overall emotions of the group itself.

Hermione's eyes were bloodshot from all of her tears, Marik and Yugi were off in their own worlds, Yami no Seto was stone-faced and gripping the Millennium rod tightly, Harry was pale and looked like he was about to faint, and Ryou was huddled in his jacket trying to keep warm.

"Why didn't Seto use the cards he laid down? It's not like him to just allow someone direct access to his life points." Ryou muttered, talking more to himself than to anyone around him.

Just when they were thinking of moving inside, away from the rain, a large limousine stopped in front of them, the back door pushed open from the inside.

"Hey guys! Get in, it's raining out there!" Ron Weasley called from the car, pulling some of the luggage in with the help of his twin brothers.

The limousine was full soon enough, and the atmosphere of the car changed dramatically, even Fred and George were eerily quiet.

"So, what's wrong?" Ron asked quietly, eager to catch up with his friends.

"Shut it Ron." Marik replied, staring icily at the English boy as he pulled his deck out of his pocket.

'If the Orichalcos got into Seto's deck without him knowing, it could be in my deck too.' He thought silently, flipping through twice to be sure it wasn't there.

Everyone else thought of this too, and suddenly everyone was thumbing through cards to check their deck wasn't tainted with the evil of the Orichalcos.

As Yugi came to his Black Magician Girl, touching the card triggered a flash back of the events in Atlantis.

_Atlantis was collapsing to the sea beneath Yugi's feet, but something kept him there. Dartz and his family were smiling at him as he was pulled into a vortex, watching as Atlantis sunk beneath the ocean for the last time._

"Dartz! He didn't _have _to die when Atlantis sunk, his spirit could have survived right?" Yugi asked with a sudden thought. If Voldemort had found Atlantis, he had the means to resurrect the darkness in Dartz's mind, thus reestablishing the power of the Orichalcos.

"Well, I suppose..." Marik began, putting his deck back into his pocket.

"If there was enough darkness in his heart, or there was a place he was particularly attached to, it might be possible. But the likelihood of Voldemort finding Atlantis is-"

"Who is Dartz? What's wrong with everyone!" Ron exclaimed, annoyance evident in his eyes.

"Dartz, leader of Atlantis, the lost city." Marik began, sparing Yugi the trouble. "He led the war against humanity with the magic of the Orichalcos twice in the past millennia. Using the Orichalcos' ability to steal souls, Dartz used the darkness in peoples hearts to feed the Great Leviathan, which would help to bring about the end of the darkness in humanity, by killing us all off."

The Weasley's jaws dropped at this, and Marik continued.

"He planned to start over, and restore Earth to the paradise it once was. But, to accomplish this, he tricked people into following him in his quest, by eliminating their loved ones so they could be tricked into seeing only darkness."

The Egyptian finished solemnly, remembering the events of the last time Dartz had tried to awaken the Great Beast, but he didn't know the entire story, only what Yugi had told him through the periodic letters they exchanged to keep in touch.

"So, you're saying that this Dartz guy is back from the dead, paired up with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and bent on eliminating the human race?" Ron asked incredulously, taking in all of the information slowly.

"I doubt it," Harry chimed in, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He's probably operating on a lower scale now."

"If Voldemort restored his darkness, he's probably determined to do one thing: Eliminate Yugi and everyone he cares about." Harry said neutrally, receiving stares from everyone in the limousine.

As Yugi was going to ask him what he meant, the limo came to an abrupt halt, and the door opened, revealing the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Finally, we're out of the car of loonies." Fred laughed, running inside with George in mock fear.

"This is serious." Yami no Yugi warned, standing invisible to anyone without a Millennium item.

"Get inside." Shadii warned, ushering his own light half into the Leaky Cauldron.

As soon as their eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, the group made their way over to the counter, greeting the bartender and paying for three rooms for the duration of their stay.

Yami no Seto led the way with his arm around Hermione, locating their rooms with ease.

Yugi went into his shared room with Harry and Marik, as Ryou and Ron went into theirs, and Yami no Seto followed Hermione into theirs.

Yugi was shocked to see their luggage already in the room, even though they had just bought them moments before.

"Down to business." Yami no Yugi said firmly, appearing behind his reincarnation with his arms crossed.

The Millennium ankh shone for a second as Shadii did the same, his robes billowing slightly in the wind coming in through the window.

"The Orichalcos, rivaled only by the magic of the three Egyptian God cards." Shadii replied, summoning a book from Harry's trunk.

"But, unless Seto, Marik, and I are in a duel together, I can only summon Osiris." Yami no Yugi noted, pulling the card from his deck.

"It's too risky to keep all three in one deck, you're right..."

Just then, a shrill scream followed by a minor explosion from a nearby room.

"Hermione!" Harry and Yugi exclaimed at the same time, bolting out of the room in a second.

The door to Hermione and Yami no Seto's room was blown off its hinges, and Yami no Seto was lying unconscious on the opposite wall.

Yami no Yugi peered into the room to see what he had hoped he wouldn't: a duel.

Hermione was facing her assailant, Seto's duel disk attached to her left wrist, but it wasn't Seto's deck being played.

"I play the spell card Graceful Charity, and discard two cards into the graveyard to supplement its asking price." Hermione smirked, as her opponent merely sighed for her to continue.

"Now, Raise Dead!" she cried, a familiar monster appearing in front of her in a blaze of sparks.

"Kaiser Sea Horse (1700), offensive position!" she laughed, pulling a second card from her hand.

"Now to avenge Seto! I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000)!" she growled, her boyfriend's signature monster rising before her.

Now her opponent was beginning to show some uncertainty, the blue dragon was very imposing to those who crossed its holder.

The Millennium tauk flashed brightly once as Aishisu took over, her eyes full of hatred.

"Now you'll pay for what your master did to Seto!" she shrieked, pulling a spell from her hand.

'Aishisu, NO!' Hermione exclaimed, grabbing her Yami's hand through the bond they shared. 'Don't play it!' she pleaded, tears swelling in her eyes.

Hermione used the tauk to enter their soul corridor, furiously throwing open Aishisu's soul door.

'Aishisu! Please, we've already lost Seto! Don't sink to their level!' she pleaded, her body surrounded by a faint white aura.

Aishisu shot her a cold, unfeeling look, and realization shot through her. 'Oh Ra, I've been possessed by the Orichalcos! Hermione, I'm sorry...'

Back in the room, Hermione repossessed her body, taking the card her dark half selected and ripping it in half.

"There's no need for _that_ darkness, I've got something worse in store for you..." Hermione frowned, selecting a different card from her hand.

"Purity of Dragons!" she called, raising the one-of-a-kind spell card above her head.

Tossing it into her duel disk, her duel disk ejected a card from her deck, which she immediately took.

"Special summon, Priestess of the White Dragons!" she smiled, her custom monster appearing brilliantly n front of her.

"Offensive position (3000)!" she added, pulling her BEWD from the disk.

"Sacrificing my Dragon, she can directly attack your life points, eliminating you because of your earlier play of Seven Tools of the Bandit!"

Just as Hermione's monster was preparing to attack, her opponent laughed.

"Sorry girlie, but looks like this date is over! I'll catch _you_ later!" he called as he disappeared with a sharp crack, just as a brigade of wizards appeared in the doorway, wands drawn.

Hermione fell to the floor as her energy was exhausted, passing out as Harry rushed to her aid.

'This is getting serious Yugi; this makes two attacks in less than an hour. Voldemort is serious this year, which means we're in more danger than we thought.' Yami no Yugi thought gravely several hours later, in the Leaky Cauldron's private boardroom, awaiting the Minister of Magic himself.

"Ahem." an aged voice interrupted from the doorway, causing the people present to turn.

Marik, Ryou, Harry, Ron, and Yugi were all shocked to see not only a man that was most likely the Minister, but the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

As the headmaster peered into Harry's eyes, he shrank back in his chair, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Boys..." professor Dumbledore began, walking around the table to the window opposite.

"May I introduce you to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge..." Dumbledore said, sweeping his hand to gesture to the man in the bowler hat he had arrived with.

"_Boys_," Fudge began, emphasizing the title as to make his own stand out, "I cannot express to you the _grave_ danger you are in."

Marik rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, leaning his head on his hand.

"Yeah, sorry to be rude sir, but we've dealt with this kind of stuff before, we're used to it." Yugi interjected, hoping to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

"_Used to it_? I hardly see how lying about The Dark Lord-"

"His name is _Voldemort_." Marik smirked, watching the Minister of Magic flinch.

"_Don't say the name!_" he hissed, looking over his shoulder.

"I hardly see how lying about The Dark Lord's return, at of all places _Hogwarts_, gives you the ability to "deal with it"." the Minister scoffed, viewing them as teenage delinquents and nothing more.

Seeing the look on Marik's face, and the suddenly darker expression on Ryou's face, Dumbledore decided to intervene.

"What Cornelius meant to say is, we're _all_ concerned for your safety, and we're urging you to tread carefully this year. If I am right, last year was the tip of the iceberg, and Voldemort will get steadily more dangerous as time wears on."

Once again, Ron and the Minister of Magic flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name, but Ron got over it at a furious look from Harry.

"If that's all, we've got school shopping to do." Marik said dryly, standing up from his chair.

"It has been taken care of, and we're sending you off to Hogwarts immediately, where you'll be safest in the care of your teachers." Fudge said furiously, turning his back and storming out of the room.

Marik leaned on the table for a moment as he bent over to tie his shoe, and he felt a sudden jerk behind his navel.

Before they knew it, they were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, standing awkwardly in the center of the room.

As the fire snapped into existence, everyone turned to see the Head of Gryffindor House, professor McGonagall.

"You are to remain on Hogwarts grounds during your stay here" she began, her eyes crossed and arms folded.

"You are all to stay in Gryffindor House at night, Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Bakura will leave for Ravenclaw when the school returns for start-of-term." she finished, tossing some powder into the flames, uttered an unintelligible word, and stepped into the flames.

"Well..." Yugi began, moving over to the window, "_That _was a warm welcome." he added, watching the waves on the nearby lake.

"Where _are_ Hermione and Seto anyway?" Ryou wondered aloud, sitting down in one of the lush red armchairs.

"Probably in the infirmary." Marik returned, sitting down in the chair opposite and pulling out his deck.

"We need to prepare for Dartz, he's released the Orichalcos and that means he's after _all_ of our souls." Yugi sighed, sliding his deck into his duel disk.

"Random matches. We need to make sure our decks are in peak condition."

Instantly, the mood lightened, everybody was in the middle of a duel except Ron, who was dueling the victor of the duel between Marik and Ryou.

Little did they know that a familiar face was waiting on the staircase to the boys' dorms, smiling faintly as the symbol of the Orichalcos blazed on his forehead.

-

Review.


	4. Chapter Three: Costly Restoration

Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny

Chapter Three: Costly Restoration

-

Unfortunately, Seto had not altered their duel disks to override the effect the magic around them had on electronic systems, so dueling was rather boring on just the tables.

"The bastard charms his own duel disk, but doesn't even touch ours." Marik mumbled, slapping a monster card down on the table.

"I don't think he had time Marik, with his soul being stolen and all." Yugi replied solemnly, tossing his Celtic Guardian into the graveyard pile.

Harry was standing next to the window, rain pelting on the glass in a rhythmic manner.

"How are we going to get his soul back?" Harry wondered aloud, holding his deck in his hand.

"Yeah, Seto can't miss the entire year, I don't think the High Priest can handle it." Ryou replied, shuffling his cards together as his life points hit zero because of Marik's attack.

"Dartz isn't just going to release him because we want him back, last time I had to defeat the Leviathan before the souls were restored." Yugi added, pulling his Black Magician from his graveyard.

"We have his soul card right? Maybe professor Flitwick can restore him." Ron suggested.

"I doubt it, if anybody could do it, it would be the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, but I don't think it would be wise if we explained the situation before knowing where his loyalties lie." Yami no Yugi replied gravely, appearing transparently behind Yugi.

"Good thinking Yuge." A voice snickered from the nearby entrance to the boys' dorms, a familiar figure walking out of the darkness.

"Joey? What are you doing here?" Yugi replied, watching his best friend walk closer.

"His forehead, look at his forehead Yugi!" Ryou stammered, the Millennium ring glowing faintly.

In the center of Joey's forehead was the Orichalcos, but with the head of a serpent in the center, blazing green against his skin.

"You have angered the dark masters, you are in the way of their plans…" he snickered, his Atlantean duel disk activating as he spoke.

Yami no Yugi growled in dismay, his friend was under the control of the Orichalcos, and without a duel disk that worked by magic, they couldn't duel him.

"I always knew you were weak Wheeler…" Yami no Bakura laughed, the Millennium ring shining around his neck.

"I'm stronger than you think spirit…" he replied darkly, pulling his six card hand.

"Dartz!" Yami no Yugi exclaimed, the Millennium puzzle glowing faintly.

"I will duel Joey! _If_ you return Seto's soul when I win!" he added, the dark power of his Millennium item sending them to the Shadow Realm.

Away from the intense magical residue that covered Hogwarts, Yami no Yugi's duel disk activated with ease.

Yugi Mutou: 4000 / Joey Wheeler: 4000

"As the challenger, I'll take the first move." Joey snickered, pulling a card from his hand.

"I summon Alligator's Sword (1500), in attack position!" he cried, pulling a second card from his hand.

"I set one card face down, and don't think I've forgotten about _your_ wager…" he snickered, pulling a third card.

"Seal of the Orichalcos!" he laughed, tossing the spell card into his field card slot.

The seal appeared around the field, pushing everyone except the two duelists away.

"My turn Joseph." Yami no Yugi muttered, ripping a card from his deck holder.

"Please Joey, I know you're in there! Take control, fight Dartz off like you fought off Marik!" he pleaded, staring into his opponent's eyes.

"No." Was the only response, a sinister grin on Joey's face.

"I can't duel you!" Yami no Yugi cried, hoping to break through to his companion.

Before the Orichalcos locked into place, Yugi forced control of his body, pulling a card from his hand.

"Then _I_ will!" he grimaced, surprise emanating from his dark half.

Everyone else seemed to be thinking along the same lines, Yugi could _never_ duel his friends like this!

"You're **not** my friend! My friend would _never_ succumb to the Orichalcos!" Yugi exclaimed, throwing a card down on his duel disk.

"I summon Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts (1500), in attack mode!" he cried, his beast monster appearing in front of him.

Pulling a two more cards, Yugi smirked and ended his turn.

"'Bout time Yuge, now it's my turn!" Joey laughed, sliding a card out of his deck and adding it to his hand.

"Heh, I sacrifice my Alligator's Sword to summon Jinzo (2400), attack position!"

Yugi took a step back as Jinzo's effect spread over the field, disabling his face down traps.

"I hope you weren't planning on using your two down cards to protect Gazelle, because Jinzo is takin' him down!" Joey called, splaying his right hand in Yugi's direction.

"Attack, Jinzo! Destroy Yugi's Gazelle!"

Jinzo shot Gazelle with an electric orb, destroying it completely and taking out nine hundred of Yugi's life points.

"Your turn!" he snickered, overlooking the hatred on the shorter boy's face.

Yugi Mutou: 3100 / Joey Wheeler: 4000

Drawing his card, Yugi began reformulating his plan; Jinzo took out all of his trap abilities!

Looking over his hand, Yugi saw an opening.

"Graceful Charity!" he called, discarding two cards and drawing three more.

'Yes!' he thought, pulling a card from his hand.

"Raise Dead!" he bellowed, recalling his Black Magician Girl (2000) to the field.

"Now pay attention..." he growled, slipping a card into his duel disk.

"Sage's Stone! Which allows me to special summon a Black Magician to my field!" he smirked, pulling his signature monster from his hand.

"Now for the fun part, Knight's Title!" he called, sacrificing his Black Magician for his Black Magician Knight (2500).

"Now, using his special ability, I'll destroy your Jinzo!" he spat, watching Jinzo disappear into the graveyard.

Joey stepped back at the destruction of his only defense; his down card wouldn't help him without a monster on his side of the field!

"You're going down! I summon my monster for the turn, Skilled Black Magician (1900), in attack position!" he called, vengeance burning in his eyes.

"Attack, all three of you! Destroy him!" he called in bitter triumph, watching his opponent's look of horror as his monsters attacked.

Yugi Mutou: 3100 / Joey Wheeler: 0000

Yugi smiled as the Orichalcos shrunk to encase Joey, its energy surging uncontrolled as it took his soul.

Yugi tapped into his Millennium puzzle's dark powers and returned them to the Gryffindor common room, Joey's soulless body falling to the floor.

Yugi walked over to the body and pulled the cards from the duel disk, separating the top card.

Taking the Seal of the Orichalcos, Yugi ripped it in half, and then picked up the soul card lying next to his body.

"I told you it wasn't him, I don't know how they did it, but they made a copy of him. A soulless copy." Yugi muttered, showing them the blank card.

"Spirit Transfiguration!" Ryou exclaimed suddenly, taking them all by surprise.

Quickly noticing the blank stares, he launched into an explanation.

"Spirit Transfiguration is a highly advanced type of Dark Magic, it's banned for good reason by International Ordinance 57 clause 3A." he began, running over to his trunk, which was sitting nearby the fire.

"Spirit Transfiguration involves the transfiguration of an essence of a person or thing: hair, personal effects, highly-concentrated amounts of _spiritual residue_, et cetera. Taking the essence of them, you transfigure the essence into a material form of the person, a soulless clone."

Ryou looked around as they followed his definition.

"But, people who could transfigure spirits tended to manipulate them into following paths of darkness, so the International Council banned the ritual all together."

Fishing around in his trunk, Ryou pulled out a rather large volume, entitled _Decrees of the International Council, Past and Present_. Flipping it open, he threw it onto the table and pointed to a place halfway down one page.

"That must be how Voldemort restored Dartz!" Harry exclaimed, "You said he led a battle against humanity right? There must have been a _ton_ of magical residue, not to mention personal affects from Atlantis!"

"That's not going to get Seto back…" Hermione whispered from the doorway, staggering inside to join them.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, running over to help her to a chair.

"We have the Millennium items for God's sake, can't we just use their magic to restore his soul?"

Yugi sighed; it wasn't that easy…

"Hermione, that only works with souls sealed in the Shadow Realm. Not-" Yugi began, then saw Ryou's Millennium ring.

"Ryou, can you use the Millenium ring to locate him? The card should link to his soul in Atlantis right? So if we use the ring to open the link, the ankh and scales to keep it solid, the eye and tauk to guide it, and the puzzle to power it, we might be able to use the rod to _make_ his soul fully possess the card, which Hermione could restore to his body!" Yugi exclaimed, thinking of the Millennium rod, lying dormant in the infirmary.

After thinking it over for a moment, Ryou nodded.

"It's possible, but I'll probably only have one shot. If we mess up, we could end up sending his soul into oblivion, and never get it back." He said grimly, staring off into space.

Yugi nodded and jumped into action.

"Marik, Harry, go get Seto's body and the Millennium rod from the infirmary, everybody else clear everything from the center of the room." Yami no Yugi ordered, possessing Yugi's body.

Harry rushed to his trunk, pulling out his invisibility cloak and throwing it over Marik and himself, heading into the corridor.

Ryou pulled out his wand and shot streams of energy at the furniture, pushing them against the walls.

Then, they placed the Millennium items in a circle around Ryou using the numbers on a clock to help them.

The eye was placed at eleven o'clock, the tauk at one o'clock, the scales at three o'clock, the puzzle at six o'clock and the ankh at nine o'clock. They needed the Millennium rod at twelve o'clock before the circle would be complete, but they had to wait on Harry and Marik to return with Seto's body before that could happen.

Moments later, a furious pounding was heard on the portrait of the Fat Lady, nobody had told anyone the password. Hermione only knew it because she overheard professor McGonagall in the corridor on her way back. Nobody had bothered to check the bulletin board yet.

After Yugi ran over and let them in, he helped drag in Seto's body, setting it in the circle of items beside Ryou. Harry tossed Yugi the Millennium Rod and he placed it at twelve o'clock, nodding to Ryou and motioning for everyone to get back.

'Are you up to this Dark One?' Ryou asked his other half, who was still unhappy about helping the High Priest.

'Since when am I the "Dark One"?' he replied with a smirk, appearing behind his host in reality. Hermione tossed Ryou Seto's soul card and he laid it in front of him both sides of Ryou focusing on the darkness inside the Millennium ring.

Calling together the power of the items, Ryou began to chant, weaving his objective in as he went, as he did with the spell.

He didn't have the time to worry about the fact he had no clue what he was doing, this was the one chance they had to revive his friend.

_Millennium puzzle, lend your power to me  
Millennium eye and tauk, lead me to the lost soul  
Millennium rod, force the soul of your master into his card  
Millennium scale and ankh, balance the gateway  
Lastly, I weave my spirit with that of the Millennium ring, to guide Seto Kaiba's soul into this vessel._

Waves of dark energy circled around the Millennium items and the two Bakuras, there was no turning back now, Seto either came back, or didn't and Ryou would die from the power he was summoning.

'Don't give up faith' Hermione thought to herself, focusing on Ryou's form in the darkness.

One by one, the spirits of the Millennium items appeared around the Bakuras, lending their power to them.

Ryou furrowed his brows as he focused harder.

The room was filled with blinding white light and Ryou's world went black, Yami no Bakura disappearing from behind him.

Ryou collapsed to the floor and passed out, the Millennium ring falling dormant and losing its usual shine.

Hermione ran over and picked up the card that lay before Ryou's unconscious form, falling to the ground in relief.

"We're not done Hermione, you're closest to Seto, you have to place the card on his chest and tap into the power of the Millennium rod." Yugi muttered, directing her through it.

Hermione picked up the Millennium rod from the circle and placed her boyfriend's hands over the handle of the Millennium item and put her own over them. Focusing on the darkness she _knew_ was inside the item, she threw her soul into it, concentrating on restoring his soul.

A moment later, she passed out, noticing only the bright white light that lasted only a split second, not feeling the familiar hands reach over and grab her to stop her fall…

As Seto returned to his body and Hermione fell into his arms, Yugi and Harry ran over to Ryou, picking up their Millennium items on their way.

'Yami, is Ryou okay?' Yugi asked, helping Harry pick him up and move him to the couch.

No response.

'Pharaoh?' he called, peering out of his soul room.

What he saw shocked him to the core.

Their shared soul corridor was almost non-existent, and the pharaoh's door was sealed shut and almost destroyed.

Yugi returned to reality and noticed Harry was looking the same way he felt, like his best friend had just been murdered before his eyes.

In Atlantis, Voldemort was cursing every name he knew. How could this have happened?

Dartz too was shocked, but kept his cool demeanor as he thought it over.

'They must have used the Millennium items to call his soul back.' He thought disdainfully, 'But- it must have nearly killed them, they shouldn't have the power to do it again.'

"Worry not Voldemort, they won't have the power to pull this stunt again, we _still_ have the upper hand, _and_ your plan should help us greatly... Their souls will be ours soon enough… And the world will fall before our power!" he laughed maniacally, turning around to look the Dark Lord in his formless eyes.

'Besides, I've already got an informant at Hogwarts, and once I get close enough to the pharaoh, their friendship will **shatter**!' Dartz thought to himself, a sinister smile plastered on his face.

-

Review. I _promise_, term starts next chapter!


	5. Chapter Four: A New Year

Shukumei Danpen: A New Destiny

Chapter Four: A New Year

-

_Ryou was standing in his soul room, feeling like the room looked: shattered._

Yugi was standing over Ryou with a concerned look on his face, it had been half an hour since the ritual, and Ryou hadn't moved an inch.

'_Is this Death?' Ryou wondered, walking through the wreckage of his soul, making his way to the door._

_Ryou pushed a toppled bookshelf out of his way as he reached the door, stepping over a torn picture of him and his friends._

_Ryou turned the doorknob and pulled, nothing happened._

'_Yami?' he called, hoping his dark half could hear him._

_After there was no response, Ryou renewed his efforts to open the door._

_Using all of his strength, Ryou pulled on the door, successfully managing to pull off the doorknob._

'_I'm sorry friend, I guess I lost you trying to save Seto...' Ryou mumbled, tears coming to his eyes._

_Ryou sighed and thought of his friends, hoping he could one day return to reality._

The Millennium ring glowed faintly for a second as Yugi looked over to where Hermione and Seto were sitting, both obviously shaken by the events of the day.

Ryou sat up slowly, scooting back on the couch to rest his back on the arm.

"Ryou!" Marik exclaimed, turning everyone's attention to the English boy.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked, concern evident on his face.

"Do you _think_ I'm okay?" Ryou snapped, eyes blazing.

"I just got to Hogwarts not even an hour ago, performed an impromptu ritual that had no preparation whatsoever, _made up_ the ritual as I went, conversed with Death, and oh yeah, I think my dark half is gone. But yeah, other than that, I'm peachy." He added sarcastically, drawing looks of concern from his friends.

"We've only been here an hour!"

"You did what!"

"Your dark half is gone!"

Gasping in pain, Ryou fell back against the couch arm, clutching his chest.

"Ryou!" Hermione exclaimed, reaching to her friend.

His heart was on fire, it felt like his soul was being pulled away from him.

'Help... me

ple…please...' he pleaded in his mind, closing his eyes to block out the sight of his friends.

_He was standing in his soul room again, and the room was worse than before. Wreckage covered the floor, the walls were crumbling, and the entire room was starting to fade away._

_Ryou fell to the floor, pain searing through his body._

_'Somebody..._

_please... H-help me...' he pleaded, clutching in the direction of the locked soul door._

_'Yami... Please, I'm sorry if I caused you this pain... Please... if y-ou're there... Help...' Ryou cried, passing out in the middle of the room, as it faded away._

_Before he closed his eyes for the last time, the door opened._

_'Is it possible?' he thought to himself, resigned to his fate._

_Yami no Bakura, dressed in the thief's clothes as he was a millennia ago, walked in, no emotion on his face._

_'Host... Know that I do this only because without you, I cease to exist... And I'll be damned if that pharaoh lives longer than me.' Yami no Bakura whispered, picking up his light even though he too was in excruciating pain._

_Carrying him back to the door, Yami no Bakura looked outside, sighing at the miniscule patch of floor that was all that remained of the hallway that linked their two souls._

_Using his remaining strength, Yami no Bakura jumped over to his own soul room, landing awkwardly just inside his door._

_Laying his host down on the floor_, Yami no Bakura possessed his body, sitting up amidst his host's friends.

"Ryou is unconscious, that ritual damn near killed both of us." He spat, shoving Hermione out of the way and standing up shakily.

Hermione stared at him as he stood, Ryou's black robes having changed into brown sand-stained robes, and the Millennium ring was shining faintly around his neck.

Looking to Seto, Yami no Bakura growled, "I hope you're happy. If my host dies because of you, I swear I will kill you even slower..."

Yami no Bakura stormed out of the common room and into the hallway, heading towards the grounds.

Seto was taken back by this comment, frozen in time.

"I didn't ask to be brought back." He muttered, looking at Yugi with mixed emotions.

'I know he thought of it. He just can't let anything go...' Seto thought bitterly, looking over to Hermione with a sadness that no one could understand.

"I hope we make it until tomorrow, at least then we can't kill each other. Too many witnesses." Marik said dryly, walking over and picking up the Millennium eye and scales.

As the others gathered around and picked up their items, trying desperately to contact their dark halves, Seto pulled Hermione aside, picking up the Millennium tauk as he moved.

Seto took Hermione over to a window farthest from the group, looking into her eyes.

Fitting the tauk around her neck, Seto sighed.

"Hermione..." he began, looking out across the massive Hogwarts grounds, rain beating down on anything in its path.

"In light of recent events, I- I think it would be best if we were to just be friends." He said slowly, watching her hurt expression.

"Seto-" Hermione interjected, silenced by the look in the CEO's eyes.

"Please, don't make this harder than it already is. I can't control the darkness in my own heart, and until I can- I don't think it best for me to be with you." He finished, turning and walking back to the group, leaving her alone to absorb what had just happened.

'Aishisu... Seto just broke up with me...' she sniffed, trying to contact her resident spirit.

No response.

'Aishisu?' she called, trying to find her dark half, with no success.

Hermione sighed and wiped away her tears, returning to the group as well.

"Can anyone contact their other half?" Yugi asked, concerned about the pharaoh and the others.

The response was unanimous, nobody could even feel the presence of their dark half.

"Well, I hate to say this, but we can't do anything until Yami no Bakura returns, and that may be a while." Yugi sighed, falling backwards into a chair.

"We need to stay positive guys, I'm sure we'll find our other selves, but moping around and doing nothing isn't going to help!" Harry beamed, "and now that Seto's back, he can charm our duel disks so we can duel with them!"

Yami no Bakura didn't return at all that day, and the group went down to dinner without him, hoping he would meet them there. He didn't.

A few hours later, when everyone went up to the dorms to retire, Yugi looked around the common room once more, to make sure Bakura hadn't shown up and avoided their gaze.

At midnight, while everyone else was sleeping, the thief returned to Gryffindor tower, walking through the darkness of the common room and stairway to find everyone sleeping soundly in their beds.

Yami no Bakura looked at the peaceful looks on the boys' faces before entering the dormitory, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

The thief spun on his left foot, taking the figure by surprise, grabbing their hand and twisting it behind her back.

"Hermione?" he asked, noticing the familiar figure in the moonlight.

"Bakura, I'm sorry I hurt your host, I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt in restoring Seto to his body, but it turns out that I've hurt everyone." She sobbed, clutching his robes for support.

Taken by surprise, Bakura had no clue what to say, but the Millennium ring and tauk were shining very brightly, and this was starting to hurt his eyes.

"Wha-" Hermione mumbled, the Millennium tauk shining brighter than it ever had, mimicking the Millennium ring.

Suddenly, she felt as though a piece of her had been restored, and warmth filled her heart. Aishisu was back.

Hermione lost her balance and Bakura returned her to her own dormitory, watching the tricky stairs that nearly caused him to break his neck as they turned into a ramp.

Yami no Bakura then returned to the boys' dormitory, walking over to the Millennium puzzle.

As he drew near, it began to radiate light, confirming his hunch.

'Heh, so they are sealed in my ring.' He thought tiredly, releasing the pharaoh's soul back into his item.

Hurriedly, he did this for each item, then dropped into bed dead tired.

'That's my good deed for the year.' He muttered, closing his eyes and dropping into a deep slumber.

The next morning, Marik was the first to wake up, feeling at peace with everything, content for no reason.

'Morning Karim,' he said out of habit, then remembered he wasn't there.

'I damn well better be here!' was the unexpected reply, Marik's dark half appearing next to his bed.

"Karim!" Marik exclaimed, waking everyone residing in Gryffindor tower.

One by one, the other spirits appeared beside their hosts, elating cries of joy and surprise.

After everyone was dressed and gathered in the common room, they went down for breakfast, walking slowly through the halls.

Seto walked by himself, a few feet away from the rest of the group, his eyes focused on the ground.

'There wasn't any reason for you to break up with her you know.' The High Priest noted, walking beside his partner.

Not bothering to look up, Seto continued walking.

'You can't possibly understand why I did what I did. You've never fully embraced the darkness in your heart! I saw that darkness yesterday, and I welcomed it, I didn't care what happened, as long as I won that duel.' Seto snapped in reply, walking faster.

'Seto looks troubled' Yami no Yugi commented to his hikari, watching the look on the older teen's face.

"Only a few hours until everyone gets here, I can't wait for the feast tonight!" Marik laughed, his stomach rumbling.

For the remainder of the day, everybody lounged around and dueled, practicing spells and charms from the previous year to refresh their memory.

"Shall we duel?" Marik smirked, holding his wand before him.

Harry laughed and nodded his head, pulling his wand out as well.

At seven, with everyone but Hermione and Ryou bruised and battered, they went down to the Great Hall for the feast, moving towards the Gryffindor table in the crowd of students.

Sitting through the sorting hat's song, which was different from last year's, Marik and Ryou were just ready for the food to appear.

The sorting ceremony seemed to last forever, Ron was nearly asleep before it finished with a new Slytherin.

"Welcome, to a new year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore exclaimed, receiving deafening applause from the entire school.

"Please note that the Forbidden Forest is, well, _forbidden_-" he chuckled, looking at Fred and George Weasley in particular, who merely shrugged their shoulders and looked hurt.

"And I would like to welcome our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart!" he added, beaming at the school and opening his hand to the newest addition to the staff table.

Lockhart stood up on cue, launching into a long speech about how he was honored to teach here at this noble school, and that's where Yugi fell asleep.

Marik nudged him when the professor sat down, and the food appeared instantly, covering the tables in a variety of foods.

When everybody in the Great Hall finished, they were ushered up to the Houses, where the prefects told everyone the password and led them inside for the night.

After everyone else had gone to bed, Hermione walked back down the dormitory staircase, heading out of the common room and into the darkness of the empty corridor.

After walking for what seemed like hours, she reached where she had learned Ravenclaw House resided: Behind a suit of armor. Seto had shown her the entrance last year, and she had learned the password from a couple of first years.

Saying the password softly, the knight moved out of the way, allowing Hermione entrance to Ravenclaw House.

Looking around carefully, she made sure nobody was still wandering the common room before crossing to the boys' dormitory staircase.

Walking up to the second level, she entered without a sound, moving to Seto's four-poster bed.

As she got closer, the Millennium rod began to glow in reaction to the presence of the tauk around Hermione's neck.

"Wake up Seto." She said softly, pushing his shoulder.

Seto moaned and slowly opened his eyes, then sat up quickly, scooting away from Hermione.

"How did you-" he asked groggily, Hermione's eyes staring into his own.

"Don't you just _love_ first-years? Get your duel disk." She snapped, the Millennium tauk shining faintly.

"We're playing a Yami no Game..." she said gravely, her duel disk clicking into place.

The dormitory shimmered away as they entered the shadow realm, Seto's nightclothes and Hermione's robes billowing in the power streams.

Seto Kaiba: 4000 / Hermione Granger: 4000

To be continued...

-

Review.


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